AWG plc
Encyclopedia
AWG plc was a British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 holding company which is parent to Anglian Water
Anglian Water
Anglian Water is a privatised water company that operates in the East of England. Named for East Anglia, apart from Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire it also covers Lincolnshire, Essex, Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Northamptonshire, a small part of north Nottinghamshire and Greater London...

. It was previously listed on the London Stock Exchange
London Stock Exchange
The London Stock Exchange is a stock exchange located in the City of London within the United Kingdom. , the Exchange had a market capitalisation of US$3.7495 trillion, making it the fourth-largest stock exchange in the world by this measurement...

 and was a member of the FTSE 250 Index
FTSE 250 Index
The FTSE 250 Index is a capitalisation-weighted index consisting of the 101st to the 350th largest companies on the London Stock Exchange. Promotions to and demotions from the index take place quarterly in March, June, September and December...

 but it is now owned by the Osprey consortium. Its headquarters are in Huntingdon
Huntingdon
Huntingdon is a market town in Cambridgeshire, England. The town was chartered by King John in 1205. It is the traditional county town of Huntingdonshire, and is currently the seat of the Huntingdonshire district council. It is known as the birthplace in 1599 of Oliver Cromwell.-History:Huntingdon...

, Cambridgeshire
Cambridgeshire
Cambridgeshire is a county in England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the northeast, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire to the west...

.

History

Originally Anglian Water
Anglian Water
Anglian Water is a privatised water company that operates in the East of England. Named for East Anglia, apart from Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire it also covers Lincolnshire, Essex, Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Northamptonshire, a small part of north Nottinghamshire and Greater London...

, it was one of the British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 regional water companies privatised in 1989.

Like many utility companies, AWG has attempted to diversify away from a core business which offers steady profits but has very limited potential for expansion, in its case through the acquisition in 2000 of the Scottish support service and construction group Morrison Construction. In 2006 it sold Morrison
Morrison Facilities Services
Morrison Facilities Services plc is a United Kingdom-based Public Limited Company that specialises in providing facilities services to private businesses and central and local government bodies. The core area of the business is the repairs and maintenance of social housing. Morrison is responsible...

 Construction to Galliford Try
Galliford Try
Galliford Try plc is a leading British construction business. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.-History:...

 for £42m.

AWG was acquired by the Osprey Consortium, made up of Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, Colonial First State Global Asset Management
Commonwealth Bank of Australia
The Commonwealth Bank of Australia is a multinational bank with businesses across New Zealand, Fiji, Asia, USA and the United Kingdom. Commonwealth Bank provides a variety of financial services including retail, business and institutional banking, funds management, superannuation, insurance,...

, Industry Funds Management and 3i Group, in December 2006.

In March 2008 AWG sold the Morrison Utility Services business to Cognetas
Cognetas
Cognetas is a private equity firm focused on leveraged buyout investments in European middle-market companies across a range of industries.The firm, has offices in London, Frankfurt, Milan and Paris. The firm was founded in 1989 as Electra Partners Europe and affiliate of Electra Private Equity, a...

and Englefield Capital for £235m.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK